between 140-160 officers die in the line of duty in the United States (source, Concerns of Police Survivors). Thousands more law enforcement officers are injured on the job annually while serving their communities. Sadly, our firefighters face a similar fatality rate as there were 135 on-duty deaths in 2021 (65 due to COVID exposure and 70 non-COVID).  While improvements have been made in the level of response to these tragedies, there can always be immediate crisis needs that arise right after a tragedy – requests for help that can fall through the cracks and go unmet if funds and a set legal process is not already in place.